At one time, it was often cheated. But at race pace, no. McLaren was fast-paced in the second free practice session, with norris in 2nd position 0.015 behind the best time of the day, set by Charles Leclerc behind the wheel of his Ferrari. But in the long run, Lando showed unexpected potential in Free Practice 2 of the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, in his orange car. The surprise jumped in Hungaroring and in F1 it is especially difficult to understand something and draw conclusions. He is completely crazy.
Nobody put those Moving in the pools to fight to lead the large chasing group, the population is increasing and even, in Hungary. “We had a terrible car in a slow corner”, Lando Norris said a few days ago, to lower expectations after the enormous step forward taken by McLaren in Austria and Silverstone for the great package of improvements they presented. Quick corners are their strength and in Hungary they have to melt. At the Hungaroring, a layout of slow curves, buzzards, called ‘Monaco without walls’, all eyes are on Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin. Also in Ferrari and Mercedes. But suddenly, a McLaren appeared who in theory was apparently not invited to the party.
Alonso was 8th at 0″419 behind Leclerc and Sainz, 10th when he encountered traffic at his turn. Hamilton was 16th at 1 second and Russell, 20th at 1″4. But you have to go beyond pure performance and remember that before qualifying this Saturday, the surprises can be even bigger if someone chokes on one of the rubber compounds: in Q1 it is mandatory to use only hard rubber, in Q2 the average will be used and in Q3, the soft. It can be harder for everyone.
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Red Bull, hidden
It’s Friday and maybe this Saturday everything will change. Maybe it’s a mirage. But so far, the time table and the rhythms of the race have left many doubts. Rather disbelief. The feeling that the classification and order of the teams has changed from one moment to the next and that McLaren has reversed everything we have seen until recently.
The surprise ended a difficult day at home to Red Bull. Pérez had an accident at the start of FP1 which could destroy his confidence at the time of maximum pressure due to his drop in results. Meanwhile, this time Verstappen was not at the top. Apparently, he was hiding, not even wanting to look at the time table.
Red Bull has brought an important package of evolutions and can focus its data analysis program to continue the attack this Saturday. They have too much stock and can afford to buy. The set-up changes Max made were eye-catching. Maybe it’s uncomfortable, or maybe he’s checking and evaluating the improvements shown. The only thing that really stands out is that Verstappen was 11th, almost 6 tenths behind Leclerc and Pérez finished 18th. From there, there were no more hints from Red Bull or Ferrari as they didn’t stay long with a medium comma and focused on soft tires.
McLaren, better racing speed than Aston Martin
In that batch of medium rubber that surprised McLaren, Norris showed a better pace than Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, which seemed faster than Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes in the comparison that their times could make at the Same track moment in the middle rubber. While Alonso rolled his lap 8 of medium rubber in 1’23″9, Norris did it in 1’23″3 on his previous lap. The Asturian’s rubber seemed to lose performance on lap 13. On lap 14, Norris returned to a height of 1’23. It’s boring. Can a car change dramatically in an evolutionary package? Has Aston Martin gone too far with evolutions? Or maybe the question is different: With the new tire casings introduced by Pirelli at Silverstone, will Aston Martin’s long-term excellence and tire wear come to an end? Alonso said he didn’t feel much difference between the tires, but it’s something that needs to be checked.
“You have to keep analyzing it in detail in the following races. I’m not a fan of changing the rules in the middle of the championship, it’s like changing the ball in the middle of a tennis tournament, something like that. It’s what happens when you change the tires here, you change the rules of the championship. You have to wait a few races to draw conclusions”, Ferdinand said. What is clear is that it is difficult to explain the classification and race rhythms seen this Friday. The world is upside down.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
